The first principles of
whatever subject we may attempt
to trace in history are ever
obscure, but few are so entirely
buried in darkness as the origin
of Chivalry. This seems the more
extraordinary, as we find the
institution itself suddenly
accompanied by regular and
established forms, to which we
can assign no precise date, and
which appear to have been
generally acknowledged before
they were reduced to any written
code. Although definitions are
dangerous things—inasmuch as the
ambiguity of language rarely
permits perfect accuracy, except
in matters of abstract
science—it is better, as far as
possible, in all subjects of
discussion, to venture some
clear and decided position,
which the subsequent reasoning
may be fixed upon a distinct and
unchanging basis. If the
position itself be wrong, it may
be the more speedily proved so
from the very circumstance of
standing forth singly,
uninvolved in a labyrinth of
other matter; and if it be
right, the arguments that follow
may always be more easily
traced, and afford greater
satisfaction by being deduced
from" a principle already
determined. These considerations
lead me to offer a definition of
Chivalry, together with some
remarks calculated to guard that
definition from the consequences
of misapprehension on the part
of others, or of obscurity on my
own.

When I speak of Chivalry I
mean a military institution,
prompted by enthusiastic
benevolence, sanctioned by
religion, mid-combined with
religious ceremonies, the
purpose of which 'was to protect
the weak from the oppression of
the powerful, and to defend the
right cause against the wrong.
Its military character requires
no proof; but various mistaken
opinions, which I shall notice
hereafter, render it necessary
to establish the fact, that
religious ceremonies of some
kind were always combined with
the institutions of Chivalry.

All those written laws and
regulations affecting
knighthood, which were composed
subsequent to its having taken
an acknowledged form,
prescribed, in the strictest
manner, various points of
religious ceremonial, which the
aspirant to Chivalry was
required to perform before he
could be admitted into that high
order. What preceded the regular
recognition of Chivalry as an
institution is entirely
traditional; yet in all the old
romances, fabliaux, sirventes,
ballads, &c. not one instance is
to be found in which a squire
becomes a knight, without some
reference to his religious
faith. If he be dubbed in the
battle-field, he swears to
defend the right, and maintain
all the statutes of the noble
order of Chivalry, upon the
cross of his sword; he calls
heaven to witness his vow, and"
the saints to help him in its
execution. Even in one of the
most absurd fables of the
chivalrous ages wherein we find
Saladin himself receiving the
order of Chivalry from the hands
of the Count de Tabarie, that
nobleman causes the infidel
sultan to be shaved, and to
bathe as a symbol of baptism,
and then to rest himself upon a
perfumed bed, as a type of the
repose and joy of Paradise.
These tales are all fictitious,
it is true; and few of them date
earlier than the end of the
twelfth century: but at the same
time, as they universally
ascribe religious ceremonies to
the order of Knighthood, we have
every reason to suppose that
such ceremonies formed a
fundamental part of the
institution.

Before proceeding to inquire
into the origin of Chivalry, I
must be permitted to make one
more observation in regard to my
definition; namely, that there
was a great and individual
character in that order, which
no definition can fully convey.
I mean the Spirit of Chivalry;
for, indeed, it was more a
spirit than an institution; and
the outward forms with which it
soon became invested, were only,
in truth, the signs by which it
was conventionally agreed that
those persons who had proved in
their initiate, they possessed
the spirit, should be
distinguished from the other
classes of society. The
ceremonial was merely the public
declaration, that he on whom the
order was conferred was worthy
to exercise the powers with
which it invested him; but
still, the spirit was the
Chivalry.

THE ROMANS

In seeking the source of this
order through the dark mazes of
the history of modern Europe, it
appears to me that many writers
have mistaken the track; and, by
looking for the mere external
signs, have been led into ages
infinitely prior to the spirit
of Chivalry. Some have supposed
that the institution descended
to more modem times, from the
equestrian order of the ancient
Romans; but the absence of all
but mere nominal resemblance
between the two, has long placed
this theory in the dusty
catalogue of historical dreams.

THE FRANKS and THE LEUDES

Others again have imagined
that the Franks, and the rest of
the German nations, who, on the
fall of the Roman Empire,
subdued and divided Gaul,
brought with them the seeds of
Chivalry, which spontaneously
grew up into that extraordinary
plant which has nourished but
once, in the annals of the
world. This opinion they support
by citing the customs of the
German tribes who, not only at
particular, periods invested
their youth with the shield and
the javelin, but also
(especially towards the period
of the conquest of Gaul) chose
from the bravest of the tribe a
number of warriors, to be the
companions and guards of the
chief. These were termed Leudes,
and we find them often mentioned
under the whole of the first
race of French kings. They
served on horseback, while the
greater part of each German
nation fought on foot only; and
they were bound to the chief by
an oath of fidelity. The
reception of an aspirant into
the body of Leudes was also
marked with various ceremonies;
but in this, if we examine
correctly, we find neither the
spirit nor the forms of
Chivalry. The oath of the Frank
was one of service to his
prince; that of the knight, to
his God and to society: the one
promised to defend his leader;
the other to protect the
oppressed, and to uphold the
right. The Leudes were in fact
the nobility of the German
tribes, though that nobility was
not hereditary; but they were in
no respect similar to the
knights of an after-age, except
in the circumstance of fighting
on horseback.

THE NORMANS

A third opinion supposes the
origin of Chivalry to be found
among the ancient warlike tribes
of Northmen, or Normans, who,
towards the ninth century
invaded in large bodies the
southern parts of Europe, and
established themselves
principally in France; and
certainly, both in their
traditions, and even in their
actions, as recorded by Abbon,
an eyewitness to their deeds in
the siege of Paris, there is to
be found an energetic and
romantic spirit, not unlike that
which animated Chivalry at the
rudest period of its existence.
Still, there is much wanting.
The great object of Chivalry,
the defence of the weak, was
absent, as well as every form
and ceremony. The object of the
Northman's courage was plunder;
and all that he had in common
with the knight was valour,
contempt of death, and a touch
of savage generosity, that threw
but a feint light over his dark
and stormy barbarities.

CHARLEMAGNE

Many persons again have
attributed the foundation of all
the chivalrous institutions of
Europe to the bright and
magnificent reign of
Charlemagne, and as this opinion
has met with much support, among
even the learned, it is worth
while more particularly to
inquire upon what basis it is
raised. Of the reign of
Charlemagne we have not so many
authentic accounts as we have
romances, founded upon the fame
of that illustrious monarch.
Towards the tenth, eleventh, and
twelfth centuries, when Chivalry
was in its imaginative youth, a
thousand tales of wild adventure
were produced, in which
Charlemagne and his warriors
were represented with all the
qualities and attributes of
those knights, whose virtues and
courage had by that time wrought
deeply on the heart and fancy of
the people. We should be as much
justified, however, in believing
that Virgil was a celebrated
necromancer, or that Hercules
was a Preux Chevalier—characters
which have been assigned to them
by the very same class of
fables—as in giving any credit
to the distorted representations
that those romances afford of
the days of Charlemagne.

KING ARTHUR

In regard to the tales of
King Arthur, I am perfectly
inclined to use the energetic
words of Menestrier, who, in
speaking of the famous knights
of the round table, says,
without hesitation, " All that
they tell of King Arthur and
that fictitious Chivalry of
which they represent him as the
author, is nothing but a lie;
for, though beyond all doubt the
romances of Chivalry afford a
great insight into the manners
of the times wherein they were
written, they are, nevertheless,
quite worthless as authority
concerning the ages which they
pretend to display, and which
had preceded their composition
by nearly three centuries”.

After rejecting the evidences
of such tales, we find nothing
in the authentic records of
Charlemagne which gives the
slightest reason to suppose that
Chivalry was known, even in its
most infant state, during his
reign. Though his great system
of warfare had that in common
with Chivalry which all warfare
must have—feats of daring
courage, heroic valour, bursts
of feeling and magnanimity, and
as much of the sublime as mighty
ambition, guided by mighty
genius, and elevated by a noble
object can achieve—yet the
government of Charlemagne was,
in fact, any thing but a
chivalrous government. Too
powerful a hand held the reins
of state for Chivalry either to
have been necessary or
permitted; and in reading the
annals of Eginhard, his life of
Charlemagne, or the account
given by the monk of St. Gall,
we find a completely different
character from that which is
visible in every page of the
history of the knightly ages. We
find, indeed, that Charlemagne,
according to the immemorial
custom of his German ancestors,
solemnly invested his son Lewis
with the arms of a man.

A thousand years before, in
the forests of the North, his
predecessors had done the same;
and Charlemagne, one of whose
great objects ever was, to
preserve both the habits and the
language of the original country
free from amalgamation with
those of the conquered nations,
not only set the example of
publicly receiving his son into
the ranks of manhood and
warfare, but strictly enjoined
that the same should be done by
his various governors in the
provinces. But this custom of
the Franks, as I have before
attempted to show, had no
earthly relation to knighthood.
Were nothing else a proof that
Chivalry was perfectly unknown
in the days of Charlemagne, it
would be sufficient that the
famous capitularies of that
monarch, which regulate every
thing that can fall under the
eye of the law, even to the
details of private life, make no
mention whatever of an
institution which afterward
exercised so great an influence
on the fate of Europe. Nor can
we trace in the annals of the
surrounding countries, a mark of
Chivalry having been known at
that period to any other nation
more than to the Franks. Alfred,
it is true, invested Athelstan
with a purple garment and a
sword; but the Saxons were from
Germany as well as the Franks,
and no reason exists for
supposing that this ceremony was
in any degree connected with the
institutions of Chivalry.

THE PHAROAH

There have been persons,
indeed, who supposed that
Pharaoh conferred knighthood
upon Joseph, when he bestowed
upon him the ring and the golden
chain, and probably the Egyptian
king had fully as much knowledge
of the institution of Chivalry
as either Charlemagne or Alfred.

WORTHY OF CREDIT

Of the annals that follow the
period of Charlemagne, those of
Nithard, Hincmar, and Thegan,
together with those called the
Annals of St. Bertinus and of
Metz, are the most worthy of
credit; and in these, though we
often meet with the word
miles, which was afterward
the name bestowed upon a knight,
it is used simply in the
signification of a soldier, or
one of the military race. No
mention whatever is made of any
thing that can fairly be looked
upon as chivalrous, either in
feeling or institution. All is a
series of dark conflicts and
bloodthirsty contentions, among
which the sprouts of the feudal
system, yet young and unformed,
are seen springing up from seeds
sewn long before. In the picture
of those times, a double
darkness seemed to cover the
earth, which, a chaos of unruly
passions, showed no one general
institution for the benefit of
mankind except the Christian
religion: and that, overwhelmed
by foul superstitions and
guarded chiefly by barbarous,
ignorant, selfish, and
disorderly priests, lay like a
treasure hidden by a miser, and
watched by men that had not soul
to use it. This was no age of
knighthood.

Up to this period, then I
fully believe that Chivalry did
not exist; and having attempted
to show upon some better ground
than mere assertion, that the
theories that assign to it an
earlier origin, are wrong, I
will now give my own view of its
rise, which possibly may be as
erroneous as the rest.

CHARLEMAGNE EXPIRED LIKE A
METEOR

Charlemagne expired like a
meteor that, having broken
suddenly upon the night of ages,
and blazed brilliantly over a
whole world for a brief space,
fell and left all in darkness,
even deeper than before. His
dominions divided into petty
kingdoms—his successors waging
long and inveterate wars against
each other—the nations he had
subdued shaking off the yoke—the
enemies he had conquered
avenging themselves upon his
descendants—the laws he had
established forgotten or
annulled—the union he had
cemented scattered to the
wind—in a lamentably brief space
of time, the bright order which
his great mind had established
throughout Europe was dissolved.

Each individual, who, either
by corporeal strength,
advantageous position, wealth,
or habit, could influence the
minds of others, snatched at
that portion of the divided
empire which lay nearest to his
means, and claimed that power as
a gift which had only been
intrusted as a loan. The custom
of holding lands by military
service had come down to French
from their German ancestors, and
the dukes, the marquises, the
counts, as well as a whole herd
of inferior officers, who in
former days had led the armies,
or commanded in the provinces as
servants of the crown, now
arrogated to themselves
hereditary rights in the charges
to which they had been intrusted
; and, in their own behalf,
claimed the feudal service of
those soldiers to whom lands had
been granted, instead of
preserving their allegiance for
their sovereigns. The weak
monarchs, who still retained the
name of kings, engaged in
ruinous wars with each other and
in vain attempts to repel the
invasions of the Northmen or
Normans, first tolerated these
encroachments, because they had
at the time no power of
resisting, and then gradually
recognised them as rights, upon
the condition that those who
committed them should assist the
sovereign in his wars, and
acknowledge his title in
preference to that of any of his
competitors.

Thus gradually rose the
feudal system from the wrecks of
Charlemagne's great empire. But
"still all was unstable and
unconfirmed; the limits of the
different powers in the state
undecided and variable, till the
war of Paris, the incompetence
of the successors of
Charlemagne, and the elevation
of Hugues Capet, the Count of
Paris, to the throne, showed the
barons the power they had
acquired, and crowned the feudal
compart by the creation of a
king whose title was found in it
alone.

Great confusion, however,
existed still. The authority of
the sovereign extended but a few
leagues round the city of Paris;
the Normans ravaged the coast;
the powerful and the wicked had
no restraint imposed upon their
actions, and the weak were every
where oppressed and wronged.
Bands of plunderers raged
through the whole of France and
Germany, property was held by
the sword, cruelty and injustice
reigned alone, and the whole
history of that age offers a
complete medley of massacre,
bloodshed, torture, crime, and
misery. Personal courage,
however, had been raised to the
highest pitch by the very
absence of every thing like
security. Valour was a necessity
and a habit, and Eudes and his
companions', who defended Paris
against the Normans, would have
come down as demigods to the
present day, if they had but
possessed a Homer to sing their
deeds. The very Normans
themselves, with their wild
enthusiasm and supernatural
daring, their poetical
traditions, and magnificent
superstitions, seemed to bring a
new and extraordinary light into
the very lands they desolated.
The plains teemed with murder,
and the rivers flowed with
blood; but the world was weary
of barbarity, and a reacting
spirit of order was born from
the very bosom of confusion.

IT WAS THEN…

It was then that some poor
nobles, probably suffering
themselves from the oppression
of more powerful lords, but at
the same time touched with
sincere compassion for the
wretchedness they saw around
them, first leagued together
with the holy purpose of
redressing wrongs and defending
the weak. They gave their hands
to one another in pledge that
they would not turn back from
the work, and called upon St.
George to bless their righteous
cause. The church readily
yielded its sanction to an
institution so noble, aided it
with prayers, and sanctified it
with a solemn blessing.
Religious enthusiasm became
added to noble indignation and
charitable zeal; and the spirit
of Chivalry, like the flame
struck forth from the hard steel
and the dull flint, was kindled
into sudden light by the savage
cruelty of the nobles, and the
heavy barbarity of the people.

The spirit spread rapidly,
and the adoration of the
populace who almost deified
their heroic defenders, gave
both fresh vigour and purity to
the design. Every moral virtue
became a part of knightly
honour, and the men whose hands
were ever ready to draw the
sword in defence of
innocence—who in their own
conduct set the most brilliant
example whose sole object was
the establishment of right, and
over whom no earthly fear or
interested consideration held
sway, were readily recognised as
judges, and appealed to as
arbitrators. Public opinion
raised them, above all other
men, even above Kings
themselves; so much so, indeed,
that we find continually
repeated, in the writings of the
chivalrous ages, such passages
as the following:—

Chevaliers sont de moult grant
pris,

Ils ont de tous gens le pris,

Et le los et le seignorie.

Knights are a most great prize,

They are of all folk, the prize,

And
the praise and nobility.

Thus gradually Chivalry
became no longer a simple
engagement between a few
generous and valiant men, but
took the form of a great and
powerful institution ; and as
each knight had the right of
creating others without limit,
it became necessary that the new
class thus established in
society should be distinguished
by particular signs and symbols
which would guard it against the
intrusion, of unworthy or
disgraceful members. The time at
which fixed regulations first
distinguished Chivalry from
every other order in the state
cannot be precisely determined;
certainly it was not before the
eleventh century. Then, however,
it is probable, that this was
done more from a general sense
of its necessity, and by slow
and irregular degrees, than by
any one law or agreement.

Every thing in that age was
confusion, and though the spirit
of Chivalry had for its great
object the restoration of order,
it is not likely that its own
primary efforts should be very
regular, amid a chaos of
contending interests and
unbridled passions, which
rendered general communication
or association difficult, if not
impossible. Each knight, in
admitting another to the noble
order of which he himself was a
member, probably added some
little formality, as he thought
fit, till the mass of these
customs collected by tradition
formed the body of their
ceremonial law. This vow,
combined with the solemn appeal
to Heaven in witness thereof,
was the foundation of Chivalry;
but, at the same time, we find,
that in all ages, only one class
of people was eligible to
furnish members to the
institution; namely, the
military class, or, in other
words, the northern conquerors
of the soil; for, with very few
exceptions, the original
inhabitants of Europe had been
reduced to the condition of
serfs, or slaves of the glebe.
Some few, indeed, had held out
till they forced the invaders to
permit their being incorporated
with themselves upon more equal
terms ; but this was very rare,
and the race rustique, as
it was called, though it
furnished archers to the armies,
was kept distinct from the
military race by many a galling
difference.

This lower race, then, could
not be invested with the honours
of Chivalry ; and one of the
first provisions we find in any
written form, respecting the
institution of knighthood, is
designed to mark this more
particularly. Ad militarem
honorem nullus accedat qui non
sit de genere militum, says
a decree of the twelfth century.
We may therefore conclude that
this was the first requisite,
and the vow the first formality
of Chivalry.

A SOLEMN VOW

The first point required of
the aspirants to Chivalry, in
its earliest state, was
certainly a solemn vow, " To
speak the truth, to succour the
helpless and oppressed, and
never to turn back from an
enemy." It is more than probable
that the ceremony next in
historical order, attached to
the admission of an aspirant
into the ranks of knighthood,
was that of publicly arming him
with the weapons he was to use,
in pursuance of his vow. This is
likely, from many circumstances.
In the first place, to arm him
for the cause was naturally the
next preceding to his vowing
himself to that cause, and also
by his receiving those arms in
the face of the public, the new
defender that the people had
gained became known to the
people, and thus no one would
falsely pretend to the character
of a knight without risking
detection. In the second place,
as I have before said, the
arming of the German youth had
been from the earliest ages,
like the delivery of the virile
robe to young Romans, an
occasion of public solemnity;
and it was therefore natural
that it should be soon
incorporated with the ceremonial
of the new military institution
which now took the lead of all
others.

The church of course added
her part to secure reverence for
an order which was so well
calculated to promote all the
objects of religion, and vigils,
fasts, and prayers speedily
became a part of the initiation
to knighthood. Power is ever
followed by splendour and
display; but to use the
energetic words of a learned and
talented writer of the present
day, the knights for long after
the first institution of
Chivalry, were "simple in their
clothing, austere in their
morals, humble after victory,
firm under misfortune."

THE ORDER FIRST TOOK RISE

In France, I believe, the
order first took its rise; and,
probably, the disgust felt by
some pure minds at the gross and
barbarous licentiousness of the
times, infused that virtuous
severity into the institutions
of Chivalry which was in itself
a glory. If we may give the
least credit to the picture of
the immorality and luxury of the
French, as drawn by Abbon in his
poem on the siege of Paris, no
words will be found sufficient
to express our admiration for
the men who first undertook to
combat not only the tyranny but
the vices of their age; who
singly went forth to war against
crime, injustice, and cruelty,
who defied the whole world in
defence of innocence, virtue and
truth; who stemmed the torrent
of barbarity and evil; and who,
from the wrecks of ages, and the
ruins of empires, drew out a
thousand jewels to glitter in
the star that shone upon the
breast of knighthood.

For long the Christian
religion had struggled alone, a
great but shaded light through
the storms of dark and barbarous
ages. Till Chivalry arose there
was nothing to uphold it; but
from that moment, with a
champion in the field to lead
forth the knowledge that had
been imprisoned in the cloister,
the influence of religion began
to spread and increase. Though
worldly men thereunto attached
the aggrandizement of their own
temporal power, and knaves and
villains made it the means of
their avarice, or the cloak of
their vice, still the influence
of the divine truth itself
gradually wrought upon the
hearts of men, purifying,
calming, refining, till the
world grew wise enough to
separate the perfection of the
Gospel from the weakness of its
teachers, and to reject the
errors while they restrained the
power of the Roman church.

MOST GLORIOUS INSTITUTION

In the mean time Chivalry
stood forth the most glorious
institution that man himself
ever devised. In its youth and
in its simplicity, it appeared
grand and beautiful, both from
its own intrinsic excellence,
and from its contrast with the
things around. In its
after-years it acquired pomp and
luxury, and to pomp and luxury
naturally succeeded decay and
death but still the legacy that
it left behind it to posterity,
was a treasure of noble feelings
and generous principles. There
cannot be a doubt that Chivalry,
more than any other institution
(except religion) aided to work
out the civilization of Europe.
It first taught devotion and
reverence to those weak, fair
beings, who but in their beauty
and their gentleness have no
defence. It first raised love
above the passions of the brute,
and by dignifying woman, made
woman worthy of love. It gave
purity to enthusiasm, crushed
barbarous selfishness, taught
the heart to expand like a
flower to the sunshine,
beautified glory with
generosity, and smoothed even
the rugged brow of war.

FOR THE HEART, IT DID
EVERYTHING

For the mind, as far as
knowledge went, Chivalry itself
did little; but by its influence
it did much. For the heart it
did every thing; and there is
scarcely a noble feeling or a
bright aspiration that we find
among ourselves, or trace in the
history of modern Europe, that
is not in some degree referable
to that great and noble
principle, which has no name but
the Spirit of Chivalry.

So…it is written.

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